Weston walks the walk

Just a quick kudos to Graham Weston, chairman of Rackspace Hosting Inc., for talking big about wanting to be an active participant in the effort to revitalize downtown, and then taking action.

Geekdom, which currently nests atop the Weston Centre, 112 E. Pecan St., is scheduled to move to the 100-year-old Rand Building two blocks south. Under the firm Weston Urban, Weston has purchased the Rand, 100 W. Houston St., from Frost Bank.

According to the Express-News, Weston Urban will lease back the building to Frost for the next two years, and it will be handed over to Weston Urban by 2015.

Last year, around the same time Weston officially became a billionaire, he told the San Antonio Business Journal he was interested in investing in downtown San Antonio.

His downtown moves — this one, and the creation of Geekdom, the collaborative workspace atop the Weston — are examples that he just doesn’t talk. Those of us who want progress to happen ASAP, I’m sure, dream about what we’d do to downtown S.A. if we had a billion dollars. Weston is starting to show the possibilities. He’s putting his money where his mouth is.

One of the goals of his 80/20 Foundation is to provide grant money to urban projects. HemisFair Park has received money in five figures from 80/20.

It’s the kind of cavalier attitude you would hope a San Antonio billionaire with a love for urban life would have.

It also doesn’t smack of profit making, although you’d be naive to think that isn’t the deciding factor in all real estate moves. Weston’s moves come off as genuinely trying to do the right thing. And that’s refreshing.